Extrusion dies are frequently used to provide a tubular coating to a wire or other product which provides a generally cylindrical substrate. A typical die assembly 101 for performing this function is shown in FIG. 1. The basic assembly 101 consists of a die body 102, a tip 103, a die holder 104, and a die 105 held in place by end caps 106 and 114. The tip 103 is mounted within an axial bore of the die body 101 and is itself constructed with an axial bore 107 having a downstream exit portion 108. In operation, a wire or other tubular product 116 is fed through bores 107 and 108 to exit axially at 115. An annular extrusion passage 109, surrounds exit 115, and is positioned to receive flowing plastic and apply it, in a tubular layer, to the product 116 at exit 115. In some instances air is blown through axial bore 107 to allow the formation of a hollow tubular part.
The die assembly 101 is an assembly of machined parts, each having its own manufacturing tolerance. These tolerances tend to multiply with the assembly of the components. It is therefore a difficult task to maintain the desired coaxial relationship between the product and the extruded layer to a particular tolerance. An adjustment mechanism is generally needed to insure concentricity of the die and pin so as to provide an even thickness of the applied layer. This is generally accomplished simply by mounting the die holder 104 for adjustment, along x and y coordinates. The adjustment may be actuated through adjusting screws 112. As shown in FIG. 1, the adjustment motion of the prior art is radially towards and away from the axis 117, of the assembly 101 as a torque is applied to an adjustment screw 112. This may require a significant adjustment torque because of the high thrust loads on the die holder during operation.
It is a purpose of this invention to provide a simple mechanism for adjusting the relative position of the die with respect to the pin to apply a consistently concentric layer of plastic about the circumference of the product, while reducing the torque required to adjust the position. It is another purpose of this invention to provide a module which incorporates the adjustment mechanism into an easily assembled component of the extrusion die assembly. It is also a purpose of this invention to provide a hemispherical adjustment interface that minimizes leakage.